StubHub Data Reveals NFL's Most Loyal Fans, Proving Wins Aren't Everything

NEW YORK, NY – January 27, 2026 – In a league often defined by wins, losses, and championship trophies, a new report from secondary ticketing giant StubHub suggests the true measure of NFL fandom lies not in the glory of victory, but in the unwavering resilience of showing up. Released today, ahead of the Super Bowl LX clash between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, the "Most Loyal Fans in Football" report uses two seasons of ticket data to crown the fanbases that stick by their teams through thick and thin—mostly thin.

Topping the list are the New Orleans Saints, followed closely by the New York Jets, two franchises whose recent on-field struggles make their high ranking a testament to profound dedication. The report challenges conventional wisdom, arguing that loyalty isn't found in packed stadiums during a playoff run, but in the persistent click of a "buy" button for a late-season game when the playoffs are a distant, mathematical impossibility.

The Anatomy of Loyalty

StubHub's report moves beyond traditional metrics like merchandise sales or television ratings, instead creating a composite index based on actual purchasing behavior on its platform during the 2024-25 and 2025-26 regular seasons. The company analyzed four key indicators of devotion:

• Repeat Buyer Rate: The percentage of fans purchasing tickets for two or more games for the same team.
• Late-Season Resilience: A measure of how ticket demand holds up in November, December, and January after a team has been officially eliminated from playoff contention.
• Losing Streak Resilience: A look at total ticket sales during a team's losing streaks of three or more games.
• Year-Over-Year Consistency: The stability of ticket demand from the 2024-25 season to the 2025-26 season.

The data produced a top-ten list that celebrates persistence over performance:

1. New Orleans Saints
2. New York Jets
3. Cincinnati Bengals
4. Detroit Lions
5. Dallas Cowboys
6. Green Bay Packers
7. Las Vegas Raiders
8. & 9. Washington Commanders and Buffalo Bills (tied)
9. New York Giants

“Wins and losses matter, but they don’t define real fandom,” said Adam Budelli, Head of NFL Partnerships at StubHub, in the press release accompanying the report. “This year’s report shows that the most loyal fans keep showing up — traveling thousands of miles, buying tickets late in the season, and sticking with their teams year after year, no matter what the standings say.”

Loyalty Through the Lows

The report's top rankings become even more compelling when cross-referenced with the teams' actual performance over the past two seasons. The New Orleans Saints, crowned the most loyal, finished with losing records in both 2024-25 (5-12) and 2025-26 (6-11), missing the playoffs for a fifth consecutive year. Yet, the Who Dat Nation continued to demonstrate a loyalty that has become a core part of the city's cultural identity.

Perhaps the most striking example is the second-ranked New York Jets. Their fans have endured a 15-year playoff drought, the longest in the league. The 2025-26 season was particularly brutal, ending in a 3-14 record and marking their tenth straight losing season. Despite this prolonged period of futility, Jets fans showed up, their purchasing patterns on StubHub reflecting a stubborn hope that defies the team's record.

The story is similar for other teams in the top five. Cincinnati Bengals fans (ranked 3rd) remained steadfast even as the team's record declined and star quarterback Joe Burrow was sidelined with a significant injury. Detroit Lions fans (4th) stayed committed after a disappointing 9-8 season in 2025-26, a stark comedown from their franchise-best 15-2 record the year prior. Even the perennially scrutinized Dallas Cowboys (5th), despite missing the playoffs for two straight years, maintained a base of support strong enough to land them in the top tier of loyalty, proving the "America's Team" moniker still carries weight in the ticket market.

Data-Driven Devotion or Marketing Maneuver?

While the report offers a compelling narrative about the heart of fandom, it also serves as a strategic move by StubHub. In a competitive secondary ticketing market with rivals like SeatGeek and the ever-present Ticketmaster, releasing proprietary data analysis positions the company as a thought leader and an indispensable part of the sports ecosystem. This "Fandomnomics" approach transforms ticket transactions into a barometer of cultural and economic trends.

However, sports analytics experts caution against viewing the report as the definitive measure of fan loyalty. The data, drawn exclusively from a secondary marketplace, may not capture the full picture. This approach doesn't include season ticket holders who buy directly from the team or fans who engage through primary sales channels. While a powerful dataset, it has its biases.

The methodology's reliance on secondary market behavior means it may over-represent fans who make last-minute decisions or are priced out of primary markets, while potentially under-representing the long-term, committed season ticket holder base. Furthermore, loyalty is a complex concept. Other studies, like those from Vivid Seats, measure loyalty through travel distance, while academic and media rankings often incorporate social media following—a metric where the Dallas Cowboys dominate—or merchandise sales. StubHub's focus is on a specific, transactional form of loyalty, which, while valuable, is not the only one that exists.

The New Playbook for Fan Engagement

Regardless of its limitations, the StubHub report taps into a much larger trend within the NFL and the broader sports industry: the quest to understand fans through data. The NFL itself has embraced a data-driven approach, encouraging teams to blend league-wide data with their own local insights to build more sophisticated fan engagement strategies. The league's partnership with StubHub as an "Authorized Ticket Resale Marketplace" includes data-sharing designed to enhance the event-going experience.

For teams, reports like this offer valuable, if incomplete, insights. Understanding which fan segments remain resilient during a losing season can inform marketing strategies, ticketing price points, and loyalty programs. The report validates the idea that fan engagement is a year-round endeavor that must cater to the emotional connection fans have with their teams, a connection that often has little to do with the previous Sunday's final score.

As teams and leagues become more adept at parsing this data, the definition of fan engagement continues to evolve. It's no longer just about filling seats on game day; it's about building a continuous, interactive relationship. In this new landscape, every ticket purchased on a platform like StubHub becomes another data point, another piece of a complex puzzle that leagues, teams, and brands are all racing to solve. The Saints and Jets may not be competing for the Super Bowl this year, but their fans have won a different kind of championship, one measured in resilience, passion, and the enduring belief that there's always next season.